Ben Papadopoulos was not your typical Gender and Women’s Studies (GWS) undergraduate student at UC Berkeley. As the only male in his cohort, he found his place at GWS, where he combined his passion for linguistics with a drive to promote gender-inclusive language.
The GWS alumnus, who would go on to earn a Ph.D. from Cal in Spanish Linguistics, wove advocacy into his academic work, as he aims to elevate the voices of trans and nonbinary communities in his research. Despite being one of the few men in his field, Papadopoulos has worked to bridge the gap between theory and real-world change, focusing on the power of language in shaping gender identities.
In a recent conversation with Berkeley Social Sciences, Papadopoulos discussed his experiences at GWS and his research. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Can you tell us about your background and how you ended up at Cal?
Ben Papadopoulos: I was born and raised in Roseville, California. When I was about 11 years old, my family moved to Boise, Idaho. During my middle and high school years, I was really upset with my environment. I didn’t see a lot of diversity. To broaden my perspective, I began taking language courses as a way to experience new cultures and learn respectfully.
When I was applying to colleges, I was determined to leave that conservative environment behind. I got accepted to Berkeley, which stood out to me because of its linguistics program. After taking a risk and coming out to my parents, they encouraged me to go to Berkeley and live my life. Once at Berkeley, I began studying linguistics.
Why did you decide to pursue a designated emphasis in Gender and Women’s Studies, and what did you find most appealing about it?
Ben Papadopoulos: While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Spanish Linguistics, I always balanced my linguistics coursework with GWS coursework. That eventually led me to write my senior thesis on gender-inclusive language, which sits at the intersection of both fields. As soon as I started my Ph.D., I declared a Designated Emphasis in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (DEWGS).
One of the things that most appealed to me about GWS, and the DEWGS, were the conversations I was able to have with other scholars, especially those engaged in on-the-ground activism. We organized and attended many protests throughout the years. That was an aspect of Gender and Women’s Studies that was extremely relevant to me and my identity. I always wanted to do something that was socially important. I didn’t want to just give presentations in graduate school – I wanted to speak to different community centers.
Do you think there is a stereotype that mostly women are attracted to GWS?
Ben Papadopoulos: That was never something that deterred or scared me. I was immediately attracted to the population at Berkeley. I saw a great diversity of people. The theory we studied also taught me the kind of positionality I had as a cisgender white male. I understood that my voice was not the most important there. I was coming into that space to learn.
Were there other male students in your classes who also majored in GWS or did the DEWGS?
Ben Papadopoulos: In terms of the gender balance, I was probably one of the only male-declaring people there. However, I was never really surveying other people’s genders. Still, other students weren’t deterred by me. They recognized that I was part of that community, and they understood that I wanted to be on the same wavelength as everyone else.
What is your advice to students, particularly male students, who are considering GWS as a major?
Ben Papadopoulos: It’s a sign of strength to take courses in GWS. Pursuing GWS requires an ambition to learn and understand. You should be willing to be wrong and willing to engage in meaningful discussion. Being a student means you have the opportunity to take intellectual risks. You should take advantage of that. It’s one of the only chances in life you have to do that, and it’s a golden opportunity to reform the way you think about other people.
I think taking GWS courses should be required reading for all students. It will give you a comprehensive understanding of the power pyramid in society and how the world is influenced by it. That, combined with on-the-ground conversations with other people, will help you understand how to intervene to make the world a more liberated place.
Can you tell us about your current research?
Ben Papadopoulos: My current research builds upon my earlier work on gender-inclusive language, with a particular focus on Spanish. In that research, I interviewed Spanish-speaking trans and nonbinary people to test the limits of the language. I recently have become more involved in the activist side of addressing those ideas, which is to claim that gender inclusive language is linguistically and empirically valid.
In recent years, I’ve had the pleasure of writing a theory-based research paper in my field that did not previously exist. It’s titled “A Humanistic Theory of Gender in Language.” It posits that no language is truly genderless. It asserts that gender-inclusive language is a fundamental human right, supported by a typology of eight separate features derived from a survey of around 50 languages.
I use this research to uphold that expressing ourselves is a form of resistance. It is deeply important to me because it affirms the legitimacy and empirical value of gender-inclusive language. It’s important to me that I use my position to uplift my community’s knowledge and experiences.